During her lifetime as an author, Laura Ingalls
Wilder responded to every fan letter she received, until
the last 6 months of her
life. She saved the fan letters she received and all are carefully preserved.
Ironically, her responses were scattered
to the four winds and while some of come safely to rest in
museums, archives, and libraries across the country, others
currently reside in scrapbooks, the backs
of drawers, in musty files, and in old shoe boxes tied up with ribbon and carefully
put away. As interest
in Laura continues to grow, now is the time to bring those letters to light.
Please help me make sure those letters aren't
lost forever. In conjunction with the Laura Ingalls Wilder
Museum
in Walnut Grove, Minnesota,
I'm seeking photocopies of Laura letters. These would be
scholarly study copies only and will be deposited in the newly
built archive room at the
Laura Ingalls
Wilder Museum in Walnut Grove, Minnesota. We are also seeking photos of any
of the
Wilder museum sites pre-1985 or photos of any special local Wilder events, such as gingerbread parties
that
you might have attended. If it would be easier, you could also scan them and send them by e-mail.
Thank-you for your help
and please help to spread the word.
Send photocopies to:
Sarah Uthoff
Trundlebed Tales
P.O.
Box 111
Solon
IA 52333
Questions? Contact me at:
info@trundlebedtales.com
This project has now appeared in The Involvement (Heritage Agency on Aging),
the
Iowa City Press-Citizen, the Cedar Rapids Gazette, the Dottie Ray Show on KXIC,
on KMRY, in the Society
for the History of Children and Youth Newsletter, in
Cappers (formerly Cappers Weekly), and in Geography
News (Geography Alliance
of Iowa).
Please keep it going and pass the word along.
Find the press release online at:
http://www.prlog.org/10016760-seeking-laura-ingalls-wilder-letters.html
Find a PDF flyer, if you are willing to put it up at:
http://www.trundlebedtales.com/Seeking.pdf
Last Updated: July
20, 2007
By Sarah S. Uthoff
info@trundlebedtales.com